Long overdue reforms

What is happening in the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa is a clear sign that nothing much has really changed after almost a year under the new administration. The more dismaying part here is that another close friend of P-Noy is involved. The growing public perception is that a new set of corrupt officials has simply taken over to continue the corrupt practices perpetrated in the previous regimes. In the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), one year is already too long for Director Ernesto Diokno to be still in the dark about those long existing deplorable practices of giving special treatment and privileges to rich and influential prisoners inside the penitentiary without doing something to stop them. He may earnestly believe that he has nothing to do with those anomalies nevertheless he should spare his friend from further trouble and embarrassment by irrevocably resigning right away.

The government’s function of maintaining peace and order in the country primarily entails curbing or lessening criminality in the community. For this purpose, it must have a dynamic and effective criminal justice system — a system supported by five so called “pillars” namely: the (1) community which plays a supporting role to the four other pillars consisting of government agencies and institutions, specifically, the (2) law enforcement agencies, or the Police ( PNP) which is under the DILG; the (3) prosecution service under the DOJ; the (4) courts of justice of the Judicial Department; and the (5) correctional and penal institutions particularly the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) under the DILG and the BuCor under the DOJ.

Each of these “pillars” is expected to bear the brunt of ensuring that our criminal justice system works well in solving crimes, arresting the suspects, prosecuting them, securing their convictions, and properly executing their punishment. The community is supposed to act as some sort of a watch dog in seeing to it that the other pillars are coordinating and supporting each other to bring these criminals to justice, because it is the most effective way of deterring criminals and preventing crimes.

However, what has happened before and still happening now shows either of the following scenarios: (a) the police have gathered enough evidence to build an airtight case but the suspects still go scot free because the prosecutors are corrupt or they bungle their jobs; (b) on the other hand the prosecutors are up to their task but the police are corrupt or have performed a lousy job in solving the crime, so the suspects still elude punishment; (c) sometimes the police and the prosecutors have done their jobs well to secure a conviction, but the accused are still acquitted by judge who has been corrupted or is incompetent; (d) then there are times when the police, the prosecutors and the courts have done their jobs honestly and efficiently to exact justice on the accused, but the convicts who are rich and influential still make a mockery of the penalty of imprisonment imposed on them because the jailers have been “convinced” to give them special treatments and privileges of enjoying the life of a free man.

Any or all of these corrupt practices or incompetence happen in these four pillars rendering them defective and weak. They may impair or even cause a collapse of our criminal justice system and lead to rampant criminality if the community, the fifth pillar, is not vigilant or alert or is simply indifferent. Fortunately, in these latest happenings at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, the community has not been sleeping on the job and media is also on the ball.

The exposé has indeed brought to the fore once more the double standard of justice prevailing in our country for so long now that it has already been taken for granted. Of course, many perhaps are aware that this double standard is practiced in criminal cases only during the arrest, prosecution, trial and conviction of the accused. They expected that after conviction, the rich convicts will be clamped in the same jail and endure the same facilities given to the poor ones. Indeed few knew that there is also double standard of justice in case of convicts; that there is such a thing as “living out” privilege; that rich convicted prisoners are virtually serving their sentence outside of the prison walls.

Another “good thing” coming out of this exposé is the focus of attention once again on the almost unbearable and inhuman conditions in our jails. And this is not only on the poor quality of the food for the prisoners due to the cuts of prison officials in the food allowance of each prisoner. More despicable are the living conditions inside the jails. The cells are dark and damp. So many prisoners are sometimes cramped together in one cell that they even take turns in sleeping. Statistics show there are 62,000 convicts housed in 985 jails only. Many other accused are detained in these jails especially the poor who cannot afford to post bail for their temporary liberty. Some of them have been inside for so long due to the snail’s pace taken by the courts in resolving their case, such that if they pled guilty, they have already served their sentence.

P-Noy’s order for sweeping reforms in the country’s penal system is therefore most welcomed. These reforms are long overdue and should include improvement of the living conditions inside the jails so that after serving sentence convicts will be reformed and not hardened criminals. The order must be followed through and constantly monitored. It should not be a mere “press release” usually issued when public attention is at its height.